The GWJ JRPG Club - Q2 2019 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel!

I think Falcon learned the auto scroll thing with Tokyo Xanadu.

Yes. I love the speed button, and I also like the option in battle to skip animations. Those are huge. I also love quest markers.

One thing I’d like to see more, in my JRPGs, is the Tales of Zestiria talk bubbles, which hover over NPC heads and are greyed out if those NPCs don’t have anything new to say. Especially in games like this one, where NPCs gain new dialogue after events, and where some NPCs have more than one thing to say, that feature would be huge.

LastSurprise wrote:

One thing I’d like to see more, in my JRPGs, is the Tales of Zestiria talk bubbles, which hover over NPC heads and are greyed out if those NPCs don’t have anything new to say. Especially in games like this one, where NPCs gain new dialogue after events, and where some NPCs have more than one thing to say, that feature would be huge.

Yes, that's definitely needed...although I wonder if it's hidden on purpose because some side quests are hidden like this. You'll talk to an unmarked NPC and they'll give you a quest...which does add to your rank so look out for those when you are out doing those assignments.

I bet I'm missing some of those quests. I did get a recipe talking to a random NPC. But there are so many unmarked NPCs, I usually don't bother talking to most of them.

I found a fishing spot on the first day of the second field trip, just off a bridge. Another thing I didn't realise at first is that there are breakable crates etc around the place, you can get small amounts of loot from them occasionally.

Had my first actual party wipe, these flying things that can do group attacks 1000-1500. 3 of those attacks and bye bye.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Had my first actual party wipe, these flying things that can do group attacks 1000-1500. 3 of those attacks and bye bye.

On the road to the fort? Yeah, they wiped me twice.

The loot from the breakable crates is random, I believe. You can also break the jars in the old school building.

Yeah, lots of breakable things that may or may not have items in them. I found a guide a long time ago that laid out what you needed for max rank. I believe it was the Playstation trophy guide website. No spoilers, just who to talk to and in what order to make sure you don't miss anything since you can't come back to most places.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

I bet I'm missing some of those quests. I did get a recipe talking to a random NPC. But there are so many unmarked NPCs, I usually don't bother talking to most of them.

One of those secret side quests in chapter 2 is really, really well hidden, and you need to know to go there to get it. I, er... may have seen that in a guide.

Spoiler:

You need to go back to the fort on the second day and talk to a lost traveler there. Normally the story doesn't send you there at all, as far as I know (I'm in the area of the field trip).

Huh... I may already be past the point of no return regarding that one... Kind of bleh. But I'd prefer to play through without a guide, at least the first time round.

I finished Chapter 2 earlier today. I think my in-game time is at around 20 hours. The plot thickens! I'm really liking it so far. Also my tax return is complete. And it's not even noon yet! Go me! Time to get my ass to the gym.

So, since I picked back up where I'd left off in the game, I just finished Chapter 3 and began Chapter 4. There's even more similarities to the Persona series this far into the game, in the sense of certain visual cues and choices, but the plot is different enough to make it its own distinct animal.

I'm glad to see that I recall most of the ins and outs of the battle system so far, so that's a load off, for sure.

Has anyone else played Final Fantasy Tactics? This War of the Lions bit sounds a lot like the War of the Lions story from Tactics. Even this whole divide between nobles and commoners.

KozmoOchez wrote:

Has anyone else played Final Fantasy Tactics? This War of the Lions bit sounds a lot like the War of the Lions story from Tactics. Even this whole divide between nobles and commoners.

It's one of those games I keep meaning to replay, but never actually replay. I played it when it came on the original Playstation in... 1998? The translation was less than ideal, and my understanding of English was not what it is today, so I'm not going to pretend that I remember anything from the plot, other than

Spoiler:

Algus is an asshole and that Alma dies at the end of the first chapter. Oh, and that Thunder God Cid completely breaks the game.

bobbywatson wrote:
KozmoOchez wrote:

Has anyone else played Final Fantasy Tactics? This War of the Lions bit sounds a lot like the War of the Lions story from Tactics. Even this whole divide between nobles and commoners.

It's one of those games I keep meaning to replay, but never actually replay. I played it when it came on the original Playstation in... 1998? The translation was less than ideal, and my understanding of English was not what it is today, so I'm not going to pretend that I remember anything from the plot, other than

Spoiler:

Algus is an asshole and that Alma dies at the end of the first chapter. Oh, and that Thunder God Cid completely breaks the game.

The english was bad, there was a remaster for vita and I think mobile called Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions which cleans up the translation and adds some cinematic cut scenes. Also it fixes some of the broken-ness. So glitches that were used to level up were taken out - can't gain xp/jp from attacking your own characters, no double weapon store glitch, can't do the chocobo infinite xp thing. Anyway, the overall War of the Lions story in that game is similar to this one.

I though of that myself for a bit when I first started the game, that War of the Lions thing. There's really little similarity aside from the name of the war and that there are nobles, which is kind of a given interview story about conflict where monarchies exist. Divides between commoners and nobles is part for the course in both fiction and our very own human history, for that matter. It's an easy story trope to draw upon.

Well, I just finished Chapter 1! It's been interesting to see the intrigue develop. I'm going to put this down for a bit now, and try to make some progress in Persona 5. And anyway, I'm going out of town soon for about a week, so I likely won't make any progress in Chapter 2 until next Monday.

I tried a port of War of the Lions a little bit on my phone. Interesting game, but the amount of toggling between sub-menus is pretty bad compared to modern games, and really intolerable for a touch-screen game. I think it's the kind of game that, because I didn't play it at the time, I don't have nostalgia for it and it just doesn't grab me now.

FFTactics is the only game I can replay...at pretty much any time. Definitely some nostalgia on my part for sure, but it's one of the best if not the best in that genre. That being said, I've never played it on a phone, I have played it on PSP and Vita, but not with touch screens. It takes a bit of getting used to with the menus and such but it becomes second nature after the first chapter maybe.

But back on topic, I'm actually playing this one with a guide for not missing side quests. I try not to play JRPGs w/o them, but when it's known that there are missable things (and as many as this game has) I try to run with a guide that's light.

I'm back in the abandoned school house, chapter 3. There's a fishing spot here!

For anyone still looking at getting their hands on the game, it is currently 40% off on GOG.

The boss(es) on the 3rd floor of the school house wiped me in 2 rounds. Got them on the second go but damn...

Now I'm on day 1 of the Ch 3 field trip.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

The boss(es) on the 3rd floor of the school house wiped me in 2 rounds. Got them on the second go but damn...

Now I'm on day 1 of the Ch 3 field trip.

I'm about to head there. Thanks for the warning! Sounds like I need to use Motivate and whatever Eliott's craft is called on the first turn...

I forget my exact party make up but the turn order was one of my members then all 3 of them. I used 2 of my S-Crafts but not enough to take one of them down, plus they were all standing far apart so I could only get one at a time. Then they unleashed 3 area attacks in a row with at least one critical, bye bye! For my next attempt, the turn order was a lot more favourable.

S-Crafts: Will jump you ahead when you pop it but lower you in the turn order. So it's better to use your turn and then use your big attacks before the enemies get theirs.

My members were already behind the enemy in the turn order so I needed to take one out to avoid a party wipe.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

My members were already behind the enemy in the turn order so I needed to take one out to avoid a party wipe.

I'm on attempt number four or five. I think I will go back to my save file, move characters around so they're not clustered together at the start of the battle, and make sure they have accessories that prevent them from burning.

After Persona 5 and this, I'm more and more convinced that I really suck at JRPGs

Edit: Attempt six or seven went much better, and I was able to prevail. Make sure my main healer was immune to sleep helped a lot. Having my main attackers with accessories that increased their speed probably helped as well.

Nice! I'll have to keep my eyes out for this fight when I get there.

Have any of you seen what the "finishing blow" link skill does? When I played last, I had just finished chapter 1 and improved my link level with Elliott and Laura. They both gained this at level 2.

LastSurprise wrote:

Nice! I'll have to keep my eyes out for this fight when I get there.

Have any of you seen what the "finishing blow" link skill does? When I played last, I had just finished chapter 1 and improved my link level with Elliott and Laura. They both gained this at level 2.

Not yet. I think the maximum link level I have so far is 3.

Edit: Beating

Spoiler:

Patrick

was pretty satisfying. Almost as satisfying as the verbal beating he took from Gaius right after.

LastSurprise wrote:

Nice! I'll have to keep my eyes out for this fight when I get there.

Have any of you seen what the "finishing blow" link skill does? When I played last, I had just finished chapter 1 and improved my link level with Elliott and Laura. They both gained this at level 2.

Finishing blow is similar to Persona 5. Sometimes after a link attack, if the enemy is close to death, your link partner will finish them off.

Yup, beating the crap out of him and his buddies was pretty fun. It wasn't even close in the end!

Ch 3 in the can. Be careful in the last part of the chapter. Crazy stuff is going down (as tends to be the case at the end of a chapter) and everyone is go go go! But, I finished out the chapter, totally forgetting I had a monster bounty still on my todo list. So, when I got my report card, I got a big fat X for that quest. Luckily I had a save just before the final boss so I could go back and finish it up. Still got a 'B' overall somehow for Ch 3, more of those hidden quests I guess...

Finished the Old Schoolhouse in Ch 4. No real challenge this time round. Also, a little time saver for folks, the fishing spots in the schoolhouse don't reset. So, there's no point in going back to the fishing spot on floor 3 for example.

Just finished chapter 1 tonight. That final fight was a pretty tough affair. Those stupid adds being able to cause faint on normal attacks is super stupid and the boss used an attack that almost one shot Rean. I felt like I over leveled the areas pretty hard too, did a lot of random fights on the highways. Maybe I needed to do some more fights in the Nature Park but I collected all the treasure in there.

Has anyone else noticed that the volume mix for the field music is a little loud? I am playing on PS4 so not sure if other platforms have the same issue, but I can change the volume options such that the field music is about the right level and not causing a headache but then the battle music is barely audible which really makes them feel empty. It's mostly the town themes that are a problem.

Spoilers for immediately after Chapter 2 starts:

Spoiler:

I don't think I have ever gone from just going along enjoying something to being so angry as when they revealed the computer class as the gender divided class for males. Home ec for women is cliche and I can laugh at the stupidity of that since in reality it is a skill everyone should have. We have enough problems with people viewing computers and technology as a male thing, we don't need a game to reinforce those ideals. Probably would have been better to just not have the gender divided classes, but if they really wanted to use them, having the male be something like construction that could actually get a chuckle and be something weird for a military academy.